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Concealing 9/11 Truths: Former Senator and 9/11 survivor call for the 9/11 investigation to be re-opened

A joint op-ed featured today in The Huffington Post and written by former U.S. Senator Bob Graham and 9/11 survivor Sharon Premoli explains why it is so important to re-open the 9/11 investigation.

Graham, also the former chair of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence and co-chair of the Congressional Joint Inquiry into 9/11, and Sharon Premoli, a Motley Rice client who was trapped by the collapse of the World Trade Center's North Tower, state that many unanswered questions remain involving how 9/11 happened and who or what entities financially and materially supported the attacks. After eleven long years, they believe it is now time to finish putting together the "pieces of the puzzle."

"It is not merely a question of the need to complete the historical record. It is a matter of national security today," said Graham and Premoli in the editorial.

They added, "This is also about justice … Americans have been denied their day in court in part because evidence of support was either never gathered by law enforcement or remains locked away, sealed as 'classified.'"

Specifically citing documented Saudi ties to terrorism networks, Graham and Premoli question why more detailed information about those believed to have supported terrorist activity "remains censored, denied to the American people," especially when the people or entities in question may still be supporting terrorist activity today. They appeal in this editorial for the United States to:

  • Re-open the investigation into how the 9/11 hijackers were supported
  • Order the declassification of documents such as the 28-page chapter censored from the Congressional Joint Inquiry's report about how the hijackers, most of whom spoke no English, executed the 9/11 plot
  • Amend the sovereign immunity statute so that terrorists and their supporters cannot claim immunity for claims against them involving terrorist activity in the United States

Graham is among those who have supported the litigation efforts involving the 9/11 attacks and the search for answers. Motley Rice anti-terrorism attorneys represent the 9/11 Families United to Bankrupt Terrorism, more than 6,500 family members, survivors and those who lost their lives on 9/11 in ongoing consolidated litigation that seeks justice for the 9/11 Families and, ultimately, bankruptcy for al Qaeda's financiers, including corporations, banks and charities. Most recently, the 9/11 Families appealed the court's decision to not reinstate the Saudi High Commission and Kingdom of Saudi Arabia into the litigation, which alleges the Saudi government provided material support for the 9/11 attacks.

As referenced in the editorial, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, in a case called Doe v. Afghanistan, reversed an earlier ruling that had allowed Saudi Arabia and other high-profile defendants to be dismissed on an erroneous reading of U.S. foreign sovereignty law. Our clients have asked the court to vacate prior dismissals of a number of defendants and appealed the earlier dismissal of more than 40 defendants from the case, including the largest bank in Saudi Arabia, five bin Laden family members, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the Saudi High Commission. Former Senator Bob Graham, along with former Senator Bob Kerrey, filed declarations in this case that refuted Saudi Arabia's claims that they have been "exonerated" of any connection to the 9/11 attacks.

Learn more about terrorist financing lawsuits.